Geneva man found guilty of St. Charles home invasion

A 24-year-old Geneva man faces up to 30 years in prison for a melee in a St. Charles apartment in August 2005.

A Kane County jury Wednesday convicted Sean Zeleny of home invasion -- but acquitted him of battery -- following a three-day trial before Judge William Weir.

Zeleny had his $5,000 bond revoked and will be sentenced Nov. 29.

Prosecutors argued a drunk Zeleny and two other men went to an apartment on the 200 block of 15th Street at 1:30 a.m. Aug. 25 seeking revenge for a friend who died a few days earlier of a heroin overdose.

Once there, they had a brief conversation with a man who answered the door. When the man tried to close it, they forced it open and began punching and kicking three other men inside. A woman in the apartment identified Zeleny.

Assistant State's Attorney Mark Stajdohar noted neither Zeleny nor two other St. Charles men -- Sean Kenney, 23, and James C. Szczesny, 24 -- had any marks or bruises from the fight. But the men in the apartment were all covered in scratches, bruised and bloodied.

"This was a beating. It wasn't a fight," Stajdohar said in closing arguments.

Defense attorney Kathleen Colton said Zeleny and his friends merely went to the apartment to talk before things got out of control. She said Zeleny, who took the stand in his own defense, was guilty of nothing more than battery.

Colton argued Kenney was a heroin addict who cut a deal with prosecutors to avoid jail time. She said the home invasion charges against him were dropped and he got probation for an aggravated assault charge.

"Sean Kenney has the biggest interest and motive in this case," Colton said.

Assistant State's Attorney Bill Engerman said Kenney's testimony was consistent with two unharmed women and one man from the apartment. "Sean Kenney is not an angel, but he certainly was a witness to what the defendant did," Engerman said.

Szczesny faces home invasion charges and has a jury trial Nov. 5. Lauren M. Hruby, 23, of Warrenville, also faces home invasion charges. She didn't go into the apartment but prosecutors say she was the getaway driver. Her next court hearing is Nov. 5.

Colton said she plans to appeal the Zeleny verdict.